Meeting of the Board of Regents | July 2003

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

TO:

The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents

FROM:

James A. Kadamus

COMMITTEE:

Full Board

TITLE OF ITEM:

Major Similarities and Differences Between the 1989 and Proposed 2003 Regents Policy Statements on Middle-Level Education

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

July 10, 2003

PROPOSED HANDLING:

Discussion

RATIONALE FOR ITEM:

Regents Policy

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 1 and 2

AUTHORIZATION(S):

1989 Regents Policy Statement

2003 Regents Policy Statement

Major Similarities and Differences

Middle-Level Education and

Schools with Middle-Level Grades

The New York State Board of Regents is committed to better beginnings and stronger completions for all elementary and secondary school students. Better beginnings prepare students to take full advantage of their educational opportunities; stronger completions enable students to take full advantage of their potential after high school. Linking better beginnings and stronger completions is that experience called middle-level education. As such, middle-level education is a priority of the Regents, because, without an effective middle-level educational experience, the advantages of better beginnings will dissipate and the possibility of stronger completions will fade.

The Regents believe that middle-level education is different from education in the elementary grades and education in the high school. It is different in that its students are experiencing a unique life phase, the change from childhood to adolescence. In addition, middle-level education provides the transition between the self-contained classroom of the elementary school and the departmentalized structure of the high school. This is not to imply that there are not commonalties among the three levels of schooling. Rather, it means that what is provided in the elementary or high school grades is not necessarily appropriate for children in the middle-level grades. Schools should not simply impose an elementary or high school orientation and structure on middle-level students, but should look carefully at the needs of middle-level students and the organization of middle-level education.

The student in the middle-level grades, typically between the ages of 10 and 14, undergoes profound transformations�physically, emotionally, socially, psychologically, and intellectually�that are unique in the individual's life. Also, middle-level education must accommodate educationally handicapped students who must go through this same process but have a more difficult time doing so due to their disabilities. Child development experts indicate that the transition from childhood to adolescence is one of the most crucial and least understood phases of personal growth.

A challenge to middle-level education is to make the transition from childhood to adolescence a positive period of development for the young, one from which they emerge with high hopes and the will to achieve to the best of their abilities. There are, however, some youngsters from all levels of society for whom emerging adolescence is a time of anguish and distress, a time where the negative outcomes include poor self-esteem, lowered expectations, difficulty in coping with peer pressures, alienation from school and society, and educational failure. These personal difficulties may be exacerbated in cases where either the home or the community in which the young person lives is economically depressed with limited opportunities for positive role models, employment, and a satisfying lifestyle. For these young people, their future appears grim, their challenges overwhelming, and their will to succeed diminished.

Traditionally, the family, peer group, community, faith institutions, and school served as the supports for young adolescents. However, changes within the home and society have left many early adolescents extremely vulnerable, without the support systems which they sorely need. Educators, families, and communities must recognize that they need to work together, and that they need each other, to assist students in a changing society. The need exists for educators to recognize and assume responsibility not only for their students' intellectual and educational development but also for their students' personal and social development. In many cases, students with special needs requiring enhanced support, such as those who have limited English proficiency, special talents or handicapping conditions, will actually receive less than other students, because such support is assumed to be adequately provided through their special services and programs. The entire school community must share ownership and responsibility for all students and provide the education, support, and guidance required by each student.

Schools with middle-level grades have a unique function. In order to educate their students effectively, they must help students through the transition from childhood to adolescence. The success of students in the middle-level grades often is the forerunner of success in high school and in later life, for these students, middle-level education is a springboard to future accomplishments and life-long achievements. Failure in the middle-level grades often results in students dropping out of school, defeated, disaffected and consigned to lives with little future and limited opportunities. For these students there is little hope they will complete their high school education or achieve their full potential. There is a pressing need to assure high quality instruction, course content, and support and other services in the middle-level grades and to promote high expectations regardless of handicapping condition, limited English proficiency, religion, sex, color, race, or national origin.

The Transition from Childhood to Adolescence

All students experience the transition from child to adolescent as a natural and predictable life phase. What makes the transformation unique for each individual is the diversity in the onset of changes, the rate of changes, and the ability to cope with changes. No two people experience the transition in exactly the same way. The changes that emerging adolescents experience and the resulting behaviors include:

• Accelerated physical growth marked by the development of secondary sex characteristics, by hormonal changes, and by increases in weight, height, and muscular strength.
• Increasing importance of the peer group.
• Need for frequent affirmation and heightened sensitivity to comment about personal attributes.
• Desire and need for direction and regulation as well as for independence and autonomy, exemplified by testing limits of acceptable behavior.
• Array of intellectual skills and abilities ranging from concrete thought to more complex and abstract thinking processes.
• Preference for active in contrast to passive learning activities.
• Inconsistency in behavior.
• Desire to explore, to try new things, to experiment, to learn, to grow.

The student in transition from childhood to adolescence is driven by natural forces that he or she may neither understand nor predict. Contemporary societal views and expectations of adolescents, the pressures and demands of society on youngsters aged 10 to 14, and the rapid changes within society (including technological change and increasing cultural diversity) with which youngsters must cope may also affect the case or difficulty with which these students deal with changes associated with the transformation from child to adolescent. These societal factors, while they influence all students in varying degrees, may have an especially profound effect upon those youngsters about to enter adolescence. They have the potential for compounding the ease or difficulty with which youngsters make the transition from childhood to adolescence.

Middle-level educators need to realize that these natural changes are inevitable and are often influenced by societal factors, and they need to provide educational experiences consistent with the needs and characteristics of the student in transition.

Introduction

Young adolescents from ages 10 to 14 are undergoing personal transformations � physical, intellectual, emotional, social and psychological. The Board of Regents believes that the time these students spend in the middle grades, 5 through 8, is critical to both their personal growth and development and their success in high school.

Based on a series of statewide discussions with many groups and a thorough review of the research on effective middle level education practices, the Regents and the State Education Department have identified seven essential elements of standards-focused middle-level schools and programs. This policy statement reflects these seven key factors.

The challenge to middle-level education is to make the change from childhood to adolescence and from the elementary grades to the high school a positive period of intellectual and personal development. For many students, this is a hopeful time of life. However, for some youngsters emerging adolescence is a stressful time. These personal difficulties may be exacerbated in cases where either the home or the community (including the school) in which the young person lives and learns offers limited opportunities for positive role models, employment, and a satisfying lifestyle.

Educators, parents, families, and communities must recognize that they need to work together to assist students in a changing society. Educators need to recognize and assume a shared responsibility not only for their students' intellectual and educational development, but also for their students' personal, social, emotional, and physical development. This includes students with special needs, such as those who have limited English proficiency, special talents, or disabilities, who require enhanced support. The entire school community must share responsibility for the success of all students, assure high-quality instruction, course content, and support and other services in the middle-level grades, and promote high expectations for all students.

The following seven essential elements must be in place in standards-focused schools with middle-level grades if young adolescents are to succeed academically and develop as individuals:

1. A philosophy and mission that reflect the intellectual and developmental needs and characteristics of young adolescents.
2. An educational program that is comprehensive, challenging, purposeful, integrated, relevant, and standards-based.
3. An organization and structure that support both academic excellence and personal development.
4. Classroom instruction appropriate to the needs and characteristics of young adolescents provided by skilled and knowledgeable teachers.
5. Strong educational leadership and a building administration that encourage, facilitate, and sustain involvement, participation, and partnerships.
6. A network of academic and personal support available for all students.
7. Professional learning for all staff that is ongoing, planned, purposeful, and collaboratively developed.

In a standards-focused middle-level school or program, the goals of academic achievement and personal development for each student are not in conflict or in competition. Rather, they are compatible, complementary, and mutually supportive. From a young adolescent's perspective, the essential elements of a successful standards-focused middle-level school or program must contain the following components.

Both Policy Statements focus on young adolescents � students aged 10 to 14 � and the critical role the middle grades play in their academic and personal development. The 2003 Policy Statement, unlike the 1989 Policy document, clearly identifies the middle grades as grades 5 through 8.

Both the 1989 Policy Statement and the 2003 Policy Statement make the case for middle-level education in the context of what�s best for young adolescents.

The 2003 Policy Statement, unlike that of 1989, emphasizes in the introduction the need for educators, parents, families, and communities to unite to assist all young adolescents, including those with special needs, as they grow, develop, and learn.

The 2003 Policy Statement references the Department�s research-based guidance document, Essential Elements of Standards-Focused Middle-Level Schools and Programs. This 2000 publication was developed to assist schools and districts implement effective middle-level practices.

The 1989 Policy Statement provides an in-depth description of the needs and characteristics of young adolescents. It is instructive, extensive and declarative. The 2003 Policy Statement, while less wordy, also describes the young adolescent.

Philosophy and Mission

Middle-level education is not just a link between the elementary school and the high school; it has a purpose all its own. Middle-level educational programs that are most successful capitalize on the unique characteristics and needs of middle-level students and serve two purposes: academic excellence and personal/social development. The philosophy and mission of middle-level education:

• Acknowledge the importance of the school in assisting the student in his or her transition from childhood to adolescence. Middle-level education acts as a stabilizing force in the lives of early adolescents.
• Affirm the school's responsibility to assist the student in his or her transition from the self-contained classroom of the elementary school to the departmentalized structure of the high school. Middle-level education equips students with the necessary academic and personal/social knowledge, skills and attitudes to succeed in the middle-level grades, high school, and beyond.
• Reflect an ethos of respect, caring, and support for the student. Middle-level grades serve as special places for students�a refuge and a support during a time of dramatic change.
• Recognize the importance of the individual. Middle-level education establishes in students a connection with school and with its purposes and never allows a student to become anonymous.
• Stress the development of the whole child, including his or her self-esteem and sense of personal identity. Middle-level education instills in students a sense of positive self-worth, self-respect, and self-confidence and a belief that each can succeed.
• Emphasize the balance between academic and personal/social growth. Middle-level education provides opportunities for self-exploration, self-definition, and self-development in the cognitive, affective, and physical domains.
• Affirm the importance of school and home connections and school and community connections in the education of middle-level students. Schools with middle-level grades seek and encourage educational partnerships with the family, community, and other human services agencies necessary for the effective education of middle-level students.
• Promote in emerging adolescents a feeling of personal efficacy and a sense of responsibility for themselves and others. Middle-level education provides opportunities and experiences for students to develop and practice responsible personal behavior, individual accountability and initiative, and a respect for others.

Successful middle-level educational programs focus on and promote both the intellectual and personal development of the early adolescent.

Philosophy, Mission, and Vision

Every young adolescent deserves a school that values academic achievement and personal development and provides a supportive environment free from violence, bullying, harassment, and other negative behaviors. Students in the middle grades are in a unique period of development, a period of rapid intellectual, physical, social, and emotional change. The philosophy, mission, and vision of a school with middle-level grades must reflect the dual purposes of middle-level education (academic achievement and personal development). They must also stress the positive development of the individual and affirm the school's responsibility to assist all students in making a successful transition from the elementary grades to high school and from childhood to adolescence.

Both Policy Statements emphasize the dual purposes of middle-level education: academic preparation and personal development. The 1989 Policy Statement presents specific examples of what needs to be included in an appropriate middle-level philosophy or mission statement; the 2003 Policy Statement is more general in its examples and illustrations. The 2003 Policy Statement is written explicitly from the perspective of the young adolescent. Unlike the 1989 Policy Statement, the 2003 revision emphasizes "an environment free from violence, bullying, harassment, and other negative behaviors."

Educational Program

The middle-level educational program should be outcomes-based. These outcomes should reflect the 10 Regents Goals for Elementary and Secondary School Students approved in 1984 and the attendant learning objectives contained in the various State syllabi for the middle-level grades. The educational program should emphasize and promote: the requisite academic knowledge and skills needed to succeed in school�both middle-level and high school�and in later life; positive self-concept and emerging sense of self; social and interpersonal skills; a broadened experiential base; critical learning skills including information-gathering skills, study skills, decision-making skills, and thinking skills; life skills; a sense of academic purpose; a positive attitude toward school and learning; and an appreciation of and respect for cultural diversity.

The middle-level educational program should include instruction leading to the attainment of the learning objectives contained in the State syllabi for art, health and health-related issues including family life education, home and careers skills, language arts, library skills, mathematics, music, physical education science, second language, social studies, and technology. However, this alone is not sufficient to meet the needs of the early adolescent. Middle-level students also need opportunities within the school program to develop as individuals. They need to develop the skill to explore new subject areas; learn to: examine alternatives, pursue personal interests, investigate potential futures and careers; and develop useful social, interpersonal, and life skills.

Educational Program

Every young adolescent needs a challenging, standards-based course of study that is comprehensive, integrated, and relevant. They need an educational program that is enhanced by genuine involvement of students, their parents, their families, and the greater school community. Further, they need an educational program that emphasizes and promotes the requisite academic knowledge and skills needed to succeed in school � both middle-level and high school � and in later life. The educational program should be fully aligned with the State�s 28 learning standards and emphasize the natural connections and linkages among the standards. Middle grades instruction must build upon the foundational knowledge and skills of the elementary grades and, in doing so, prepare students for success in high school.

Literacy and numeracy are key to the educational program. Reading, writing, and mathematics are emphasized across the subject areas with expectations for performance that are consistent across and within the disciplines and commonly understood by both teachers and students. Strategies for reading are applied in all the content areas and writing experiences are provided in a variety of forms. Mathematics instruction builds on basic skills and emphasizes conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. The educational program also promotes both an understanding and the use of the concepts of technology; fosters an understanding and an appreciation of the arts; teaches how to access, organize, and apply information using various media and data bases; helps students understand and apply positive health concepts and practices and participate in healthful physical activities; and develops skills to explore new subject areas.

The educational program also encourages students to pursue personal interests, engage in school and community activities (e.g., sports, clubs, etc.), explore potential futures and careers, and develop useful social, interpersonal, and life skills needed to live a full and productive life. It also offers opportunities for the development of personal responsibility and self-direction.

Up-to-date learning aids (e.g., textbooks, current adolescent literature, laboratory equipment, etc.), instructional materials, and instructional technology are used to support the educational program. Targeted and timely academic intervention services must be provided so that students do not fall behind in meeting the learning standards. These additional academic instruction and/or student support services that address barriers to learning are critical in the middle grades to ensure that all students achieve the State�s learning standards and graduate from high school. Such services are particularly important to students with disabilities and those who are English language learners to ensure they are successful in the general academic program.

Both Policy Statements advocate a comprehensive, challenging, purposeful, relevant, and integrated course of study. The 1989 Policy Statement grounds the educational program in 10 Regents Goals for Elementary and Secondary School Students (1984) and the State syllabi existing at the time. The 2003 Policy Statement uses the State�s 28 learning standards as the foundation for the educational program, but with an emphasis across the curriculum on reading, writing, and mathematics. In the 2003 Policy Statement, literacy and numeracy are highlighted as key. The notion that the middle grades program is part of an educational continuum, builds on the foundational knowledge and skills of the elementary grades, and plays a critical role in preparing students for success in high school is explicit in the 2003 Policy Statement. The importance and use of technology in the educational program are emphasized more in the 2003 Policy Statement as is the need for up-to-date instructional supports (textbooks, technology, etc.). The 2003 Policy Statement explicitly recognizes the role of the educational program in helping students develop personal responsibility, self-direction, leadership skills, positive health habits and practices, conceptual understanding, and problem-solving skills. Academic Intervention Services � which did not exist when the 1989 Policy Statement was approved - is referenced in the 2003 Policy Statement.

Both policy statements acknowledge the importance of the educational program addressing academic achievement and personal development.

Organization and Structure

Schools with middle-level grades are organized to promote academic excellence and to establish within staff and students a feeling of belonging and a sense of personal identification with the school and with its purposes. Each student and each staff member needs to feel a productive part of the organization. Schools enrolling middle-level students should:

• Contain at least three grade levels. Schools with fewer grades may have difficulty fostering a feeling of belonging as there is no permanence�students are either entering or leaving; they are never "just there."
• Have comparatively small student enrollments so that every student is viewed as an individual and receives personal attention.
• Where the total student population is large, have "houses" within schools or schools-within-schools to promote a feeling of family and to reduce the feeling of anonymity among students.
• Have established procedures such as multi-year assignment of advisor-teachers, classroom teacher(s) or teams of teachers for the same students designed to develop long-term personal relationships.
• Use student grouping strategies that maintain heterogeneous classes but group for specific purposes and for brief periods.
• Have teacher teams sharing responsibility for the education and personal development of a common group of students.
• Have common planning time for those teachers and teacher teams sharing responsibility for a common group of students.
• Have schedules with flexible time assignments within blocks of time to encourage interdisciplinary programs and creative time use.
• Provide a gradual transition from the more self-contained classrooms of the elementary school to the more departmentalized structure of the high school.
• Provide a variety of co-curricular and extracurricular activities.
• Promote and encourage appropriate participation of pupils with handicapping conditions in all curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities.
• Have students with disabilities or other special needs, as well as their programs and services, integrated throughout the school building rather than clustered in a separate area.
• Provide support services such as guidance, counseling, and health-related services to all students.

Schools with middle-level students have an organization and structure that promote academic excellence and personal/social development.

Organization and Structure

Young adolescents learn and develop best in a school that is organized and structured to promote both academic achievement and personal development. Organizational effectiveness and school success are not contingent upon a particular grade or school configuration. What is critical is that a school is organized and structured to help young adolescents make the transition from the elementary to the high school grades, from childhood to adolescence.

The organization and structure should help make all students, staff, parents, and families feel secure, valued, and respected as significant contributors to the school community. Teachers must be provided with regular opportunities to interact and collaborate to ensure that instruction is consistent and inter-related across and within the subject areas. Scheduling flexibility is necessary to provide a comprehensive educational program, interdisciplinary curricula, targeted and timely academic intervention services, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, and opportunities for students to engage in leadership and community service projects.

The organization and structure connect youngsters to adults and to other students in the school and community and provide opportunities for increasingly independent learning experiences and responsibilities within a safe and structured environment. Each student needs a caring adult advocate in the school who knows that student personally and well. The organization and structure provide time during the school day that is necessary to ensure opportunities for additional instruction and personal support are available for students who need extra help to meet the State�s standards.

Both Policy Statements recognize the importance of organization and structure to a well functioning, high performing middle-level school. The 1989 Policy Statement provides specific examples; the 2003 Policy Statement is more philosophical with fewer examples and illustrations.

The 1989 Policy Statement recommends that middle-level schools contain at least three grades. The 2003 Policy Statement, while silent on how many grades should be in a middle-level school, does identify grades 5 through 8 as "the middle grades." Also, the 2003 Policy Statement, unlike the 1989 Policy, states explicitly that the effectiveness of a middle-level school in meeting the dual needs of young adolescents is not contingent on the grade configuration.

The 1989 Policy Statement and the 2003 Policy Statement both emphasize the importance of teachers having regular opportunities to meet, plan, and work together and of having scheduling flexibility to provide an appropriate educational program for students.

The importance of a safe and structured environment for students and the need for each student to have a caring adult advocate are referenced in the 1989 Policy Statement and highlighted in the 2003 Policy Statement.

Classroom Instruction

Teachers in middle-level classrooms understand and appreciate the changes that are occurring within their students and recognize the behaviors manifested by these changes. They use instructional techniques and processes that capitalize on the unique developmental characteristics and individual needs of early adolescents. Successful middle-level teachers:

• Involve students in their learning, encouraging them to take risks, to explore, to question, to experience, to learn, to grow.
• Vary activities to maintain student interest.
• Use flexible grouping based upon student needs and interests to help students achieve program purposes, with students changing groups often depending upon individual needs and program objectives.
• Use a variety of teaching strategies to match instruction to the varied learning styles of individual students.
• Use interdisciplinary approaches to help students integrate their studies.
• Use cooperative learning groups and peer tutoring opportunities to develop social and interpersonal skills in addition to academic proficiency.
• Consult with each other and with other school personnel. Teachers with regular education assignments and those assigned to programs for students with special needs work closely together.
• Inform and involve parents of middle-level students in their children's education by helping them understand the instructional program, their children's progress, and how to help their children at home with schoolwork, school decisions, and successful development through early adolescence.

Administration in successful schools with middle-level grades actively encourages and supports classroom activities and instruction that foster the dual purposes of middle-level education�academic excellence and personal/social development.

Classroom Instruction

Every young adolescent requires skilled and caring teachers who have a thorough understanding of their subject(s) and of the students that they teach. Young adolescents learn and develop best when they are treated with respect, involved in their learning, engaged with challenging content that has meaning and connections for them, and receive assurances that they are capable, worthy people. Teachers need to recognize and understand the changes that are occurring within their students, design and deliver a challenging curriculum based on the State�s learning standards, and accept responsibility for each student�s learning and development. They need to have an extensive understanding of their subject matter and of different approaches to student learning. A variety of successful instructional techniques and processes that reflect best practices (e.g., differentiated instruction, cooperative learning, etc.) must be used and capitalize on the unique characteristics and individual needs of young adolescents.

Teachers must provide instruction that is purposeful, challenging, relevant, integrated, and standards-based and use classroom assessments that are useful indicators of individual student growth and performance to monitor each student�s progress and to plan instruction. They ensure that performance expectations are consistent and interrelated across and within subject areas. Student data, both personal and achievement, are used to make curricular and instructional decisions and technology and other instructional resources support and enhance learning. Teachers use flexible grouping based upon pupil needs, ways of learning, and interests, and employ interdisciplinary approaches to help students integrate their studies and to fulfill their potential. Opportunities are created for students to develop social, interpersonal, and leadership skills in addition to academic proficiency.

Teachers consult with each other and with other school personnel about instructional, curricular, and other student-related issues. They also inform and involve parents in their children's education by helping them understand the instructional program, their children's progress, and how to help their children at home with schoolwork, school decisions, and successful development through early adolescence.

Again, both Policy Statements emphasize the critical nature of classroom instruction and the importance of collaboration and cooperation among school personnel and others (e.g., parents, community, etc.). The 1989 Policy Statement provides specific examples of "good" practice; the 2003 Policy Statement is more general in its examples. The 2003 Policy Statement references the State�s learning standards as the focus of classroom instruction; it also highlights the importance of using data to make informed instructional decisions.

The 2003 Policy Statement, in contrast to the 1989 Policy Statement, provides an increased emphasis on the "climate" of the school and classroom as powerful influences on the education and development of young adolescents � "caring" teachers and administrators who treat students and other adults with respect and understanding.

The 2003 Policy Statement, unlike the 1989 Policy Statement, highlights the importance of classroom teachers having an extensive understanding of their subject matter.

Administration in successful schools with middle-level grades actively encourage and support classroom activities and instruction that foster the dual purposes of middle-level education�academic excellence and personal/social development. (Excerpted from Classroom Instruction section)

Educational Leadership

Every young adolescent should be educated in schools that have knowledgeable, effective, and caring leaders. Students learn and develop best when the adults in the school community have high expectations for students and staff, share and support a common vision, and work together to achieve common purposes. The personnel in effective schools with middle-level grades share leadership responsibilities. For the school to prosper, those in positions of leadership must know and understand the needs and developmental characteristics of young adolescents and the essential elements of a standards-focused, high-performing school with middle-level grades. They must articulate and maintain high standards for classroom instruction and student performance and support and encourage teachers to take risks, to explore, to question, and to try new instructional approaches. They must also ensure and facilitate inter-school cooperation, collaboration, and communication with feeder elementary schools and receiving high schools.

Educational leaders promote school/community partnerships and involve parents and other members of the community in school activities and initiatives that benefit students. They create, promote, and sustain a school culture and climate of mutual support and collective responsibility for the educational and personal development of every young adolescent. They also ensure students are provided with opportunities to assume significant and meaningful leadership roles in the school.

The 1989 Policy Statement mentions "administration" in the section on Classroom Instruction; there is not a separate section on Educational Leadership. In contrast, the 2003 Policy Statement emphasizes the critical importance of educational leadership as a shared responsibility; it has a separate section that deals specifically with educational leaders and shared leadership as they relate to effective middle-level schools.

Student Support

All middle-level students, and especially "at risk" students, need personal support in the school, in the home, and in the community as they experience the changes associated with the transition from childhood to adolescence. They need:

• Adults and older youth to provide them with positive role models and constant affirmation and recognition.
• Respect and caring to engender a feeling of self-worth, self-confidence, and personal efficacy.
• Opportunities to examine, explore, discuss, and understand the changes associated with early adolescence.
• Counseling and guidance services to assist them in making life, career, and educational choices.
• A network of trained professionals, special programs, and community resources available to assist those who have extraordinary needs and require additional services to cope with the changes of early adolescence and/or the academic demands of middle-level education. Schools need to collaborate and cooperate with other human service agencies in the community.

Schools with middle-level grades assure, either formally through a teacher/student advisor/advisee program or informally through a school culture of caring where teachers or other adults assume responsibility for individual students, that every middle-level student has an adult mentor in addition to a guidance counselor.

Student Academic and Personal Support

Every young adolescent needs access to a system that supports both academic achievement and personal development. Caring adults are a significant positive influence for young adolescents. To ensure a comprehensive network of academic and personal support is available for students and their families, schools with middle-level grades must maintain two-way communication with parents and families and ensure that all students and their families have access to counseling and guidance services to make educational, career, and life choices. Trained professionals (including school counselors who know and understand the needs, characteristics, and behaviors of young adolescents), special prevention and intervention programs, and community resources must be available to support those who require additional services to cope with the changes of early adolescence and/or the academic demands of middle-level education, especially students with disabilities and those who are English language learners. Students also need to be provided with opportunities to have access to adult mentors and positive role models. Parents, families, and community groups must be informed of the essential role they play in ensuring students attend school and access available services, in expanding and enhancing venues for significant learning, in promoting youth development, and in supporting positive school change.

Both Policy Statements emphasize the importance of academic and personal support and the need to reach out to parents and the community for assistance. The 1989 Policy Statement contains several specific recommendations; the 2003 Policy Statement is more general. The 2003 Policy Statement, in contrast to the 1989 Policy Statement, focuses on "every young adolescent" as needing support.

Professional Training

and Staff Development

Teachers, administrators, and other school staff need to know the characteristics of the middle-level student and the instructional program and processes that are best for these students. Personnel working in schools with middle-level students also need to understand not only the philosophy and mission of middle-level education but also the philosophy and mission of the elementary school and the high school. Middle-level staff need to be up-to-date concerning the course content and curriculum outcomes for the middle-level grades. All this information should be included in the preservice training of middle-level teachers and administrators or, for certified personnel now working with middle-level students, provided through a systematic and comprehensive in-service staff development program.

Professional Learning

Every young adolescent deserves an educational setting that values continuous improvement and ongoing professional learning. Young adolescents need highly qualified, well-trained, knowledgeable, caring teachers, administrators, and other school staff if they are to succeed. Schools with middle-level grades need to be professional learning communities where adults in the school engage in programs of growth and development that are ongoing, planned, purposeful, and collaboratively developed. At the core of professional growth should be specific subject area expertise, a knowledge and understanding of the linkages among the 28 learning standards, research-based instructional practices that have proven successful in raising student achievement and, at the practical level, the developmental characteristics of young adolescents. School staff must understand, not only theoretically but also operationally, how to implement the essential elements of a standards-focused, high-performing school with middle-level grades.

The 1989 Policy Statement is explicit in what teachers, administrators, and other school staff need to know in order to work with young adolescents. It emphasizes the "products" of training - knowledge and skills. In contract, the 2003 Policy Statement, while concerned with professional competence, focuses more on engaging middle-level educators in a process of continuous learning and improvement (professional learning communities), modeling the importance of life-long learning in the pursuit of excellence.

Conclusion

The Regents believe that the middle-level grades are a vital link in the education of youth, a unique period of education, and an educational priority. Until schools with middle-level grades attend to the twin purposes of academic preparation and individual self-development for all students in these years, the goals of better beginnings and stronger completions for all will not be realized.

Summary

The University of the State of New York and all of its resources are unified in the mission to raise the knowledge, skill, and opportunity of all people in the State. The Board of Regents believes that the middle-level grades, grades 5 through 8, are a vital link in the education of youth, a critical period of individual growth and development, and a key to success in high school. A high performing, standards-focused school with middle-level grades addresses both academic performance and personal development. It ensures that young adolescents are prepared and ready to make a successful transition to high school, academically and personally. Creating effective schools with middle-level grades will necessitate systemic change and require a philosophy and mission committed to developing the whole child, a challenging and rigorous educational program, a supportive organization and structure, skilled and knowledgeable teachers who use effective instructional practices, strong leadership, a network of support appropriate to the needs and characteristics of young adolescents, ongoing professional learning, and a strong will to succeed.

Both Policy Statements conclude with a reaffirmation of the importance of middle-level education as it fulfills its twin purposes (academic preparation and individual self development for all students) and serves as the bridge between the elementary grades and the high school.

The 2003 Policy Statement, unlike the 1989 Policy Statement, explicitly identifies the University of the State of New York (USNY) and all of its resources as key partners in the Regents effort to strengthen middle-level education.